convict
Americanverb (used with object)
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to prove or declare guilty of an offense, especially after a legal trial.
to convict a prisoner of a felony.
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to impress with a sense of guilt.
noun
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a person proved or declared guilty of an offense.
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a person serving a prison sentence.
adjective
verb
noun
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a person found guilty of an offence against the law, esp one who is sentenced to imprisonment
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a person serving a prison sentence
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preconvictverb (used with object)
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reconvictverb (used with object)
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convictableadjective
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convictibleadjective
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convictiveadjective
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unconvictingadjective
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unconvictiveadjective
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convictivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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convictsimple
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convictssimple
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have convictedperfect
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has convictedperfect
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am convictingprogressive
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are convictingprogressive
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is convictingprogressive
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have been convictingperfect progressive
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has been convictingperfect progressive
Past
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convictedsimple
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had convictedperfect
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was convictingprogressive
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were convictingprogressive
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had been convictingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of convict
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb convicten, from Latin convictus, past participle of convincere, equivalent to con- “with, together” + vic-, variant stem of vincere “to overcome” + -tus past participle suffix; Middle English noun convict “(a) convict,” adjective convict “convicted,” past participle of convicten “to convince” (or directly from Latin ); see con-, convince
Explanation
A convict is a person who has been found guilty — convicted — of a crime and is serving a sentence in prison. When you convict (accent on the second syllable) someone of a crime, you find them guilty. The person is then a convict (accent on the first syllable). When the person is released from jail, he's an ex-con, that is, he's not a convict any more.
Vocabulary lists containing convict
13th Amendment (1865)
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Even if the formula were adjusted, however, Cleve Arguelles of pollster WR Numero told AFP he does not believe the numbers are there to convict.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Previously, compensation was paid out if the claimant had established, beyond reasonable doubt, that any reasonable jury could not convict on the evidence provided.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
“You cannot convict Jonathan based on his character and you can’t punish him for his opinions because you don’t like him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Prosecutors have made several attempts to convict protesters for obstructing immigration-enforcement efforts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Sambo had learned his trade from a Scottish convict turned indentured servant.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Even charges like the ones Rojas faces can be devastating, whether or not a jury ever convicts.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2026
The ruling irons out recent judicial efforts to protect California convicts from what Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu called “cascading consequences” of administrative debt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
"This court finds the accused guilty of all 21 charges and convicts the accused accordingly," Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah said.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
In France, convicts are presumed innocent as long as an appeal is pending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
There was noise in the background, though I couldn’t make it out exactly, so he must’ve been in a room with other convicts.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
"We hope they will be convicted, but clearly the most important thing for the victims is that the truth finally comes out," Egle Possetti, who heads a committee of relatives of the victims, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Abdel-Rahman lived and preached in New Jersey before he was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy in relation to the first bombing of the World Trade Center.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Special Judge Mohamed Al-Amin ordered the confiscation of all RSF assets and instructed the authorities to seek Interpol Red Notices for the arrest and extradition of those convicted.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Andrew Left of Citron Research was convicted in June of securities fraud for touting stocks, then quickly selling them after they ran up, pocketing over $20 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
A few years earlier, we won the release of Phillip Shaw, who was fourteen when he was improperly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in Missouri.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
State officials rarely prosecute federal agents for actions related to their official duties because the agents have legal protections that can make convicting them difficult.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Hoppock worries that by moving straight to deportation proceedings, the federal government has found a way to skip prosecuting and convicting.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
It’s true that we don’t want juries convicting simply because they don’t like the defendant.
From Slate ● Apr. 22, 2026
He was found guilty of "conspiracy to commit rebellion" by the Supreme Court, which handed down the sentence at the same time as convicting him.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2025
When Faye died, he knew instinctively that Kate was probably responsible, but he also knew he hadn’t much of any chance of convicting her, and a wise sheriff doesn’t butt his head against the impossible.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
